Orange rejects controversial maps

Candidates to run on current lines this year

GOSHEN — The Orange County Legislature Friday rejected a plan for redrawing Orange County's 21 legislative districts after heated discussion about proposed boundary changes and minority representation in the City of Newburgh.

GOSHEN — The Orange County Legislature Friday rejected a plan for redrawing Orange County's 21 legislative districts after heated discussion about proposed boundary changes and minority representation in the City of Newburgh.

Three Republicans joined seven Democrats in opposition to the proposal, which was drafted by two Republicans and later revised to enhance minority voting power in Newburgh and Middletown.

The resulting vote of 10-10, with one legislator, Chris Eachus, absent, defeated the plan, delighting audience members who had spoken out against the altered division of territory in Newburgh.

The redistricting proposal Orange County legislators rejected Friday would have shifted territory in the City of Newburgh, concentrating the city's Hispanic population in District 6 and creating a 59 percent Hispanic majority there.

"Thank you! Thank you!" spectators called out as they applauded the vote.

The outcome appears to doom redistricting for this year, meaning candidates must run under current lines this year and then run again next year with whatever new political map is adopted.

The Legislature's attorney, Antoinette Reed, told lawmakers during the meeting they had no time left to postpone a vote and reconsider the proposal.

The discussion centered largely on the City of Newburgh's two districts.

In response to warnings that the map Republicans devised may have violated the federal Voting Rights Act, county planners shifted the proposed lines to capture a 59 percent Hispanic majority in District 6 and a combined 55 percent majority for African-American and Hispanic residents in District 4.

The latter district is now represented by Harvey Burger, the Legislature's only African-American member.

The reshaping of those districts didn't sit well with local NAACP leaders, Newburgh activists, both of the city's county legislators or civil-rights attorney Michael Sussman, who argued the plan would improperly concentrate minorities in District 6 at the expense of District 4.

"At the very least, we should be attending a public hearing today, not a vote on a self-serving plan."

Legislator Katie Bonelli, a Blooming Grove Republican who drew the original map with Legislature Chairman Michael Pillmeier, defended the revisions, saying they reflected the extent to which Newburgh's Hispanic residents outnumber African-Americans.

She urged lawmakers to support the proposal, saying any future plans were "not going to change too dramatically."

Reed assured legislators the lines complied with the Voting Rights Act and would withstand legal challenge.

Republican Pat Berardinelli, who represents the proposed Newburgh district that would have had a 59 percent Hispanic majority, railed against the plan, saying it was bad for Newburgh residents.

Democratic Leader Jeff Berkman reluctantly opposed it, saying, "Even though I thought the process was abysmal, the end result was not that bad."

Chester Johnson Jr., president of the Newburgh-Highland Falls chapter of the NAACP, applauded the plan's defeat.

"It's a wake-up call for the Legislature to realize that people are watching, and they're going to continue to watch," he said. "And hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for people of Newburgh to get involved."